Leo Is Just Scared: A Rottmnt Character Analysis  

Personally, I've always interpreted the "it's not about you" phrase as "it's not JUST about you; it's about everyone." Raph says it to Leo in response to Leo seemingly acting selfish, because now that he's the leader, Raph simply wants him to take responsibility and think about the safety and wellbeing of his family and work with his brothers as a team. When Raph is kidnapped, Leo calls all the shots and ignores the advice and criticism from his brothers, bolstered by Casey telling him that he's the greatest ninja the world has ever seen. Leo has technically taken the first steps in taking responsibility, but he's trying to do everything himself AND he's trying to do it how Raph did, with no plan, just a goal. When that fails and he hits rock bottom, Leo finally starts thinking like a real leader, taking true responsibility for his actions and keeping the safety of his brothers in mind AND combing all their ideas to form a plan, because it's okay if Leo doesn't have all the answers. He also realises why Raph did what he did and what it truly means to be responsible for the lives of the people you love, and by the end of the movie, he seems to finally understand what Raph meant: it wasn't about him, it was about everyone. Except...he actually doesn't. He takes it one step further and twists the intended message. In the intro of the movie, right before Casey goes back in time, he tells Master Leonardo, "I don't want to lose you!" And what does the greatest ninja in the world say in response? "Casey. It's not about me." I'm sorry, what? Why on earth would Leo say that in response to Casey basically telling him he doesn't want him to die? Well, that's easy. Because Leo doesn't believe he's worth grieving over. He's not worth worrying about. In the future, Leo is riddled with so much guilt and self-loathing, because he's the one who inadvertently caused the apocalypse, and so that makes him take what Raph told him to heart so much that he turned "It's not about me" to "It's *never* about me." Leo's life doesn't matter, but everyone else's does. And though we've seen small hints of it throughout the show, we see that self-sacrificing nature begin to truly take form at the climax of the movie, when Leo locks himself in the Prison Dimension to keep Krang Prime there. Even after he's rescued, there's no way he doesn't continue to feel that very same guilt, because he caused his brothers so much unnecessary pain and trauma, all because of a single, stupid mistake he made. He will repeat the mantra of "It's not about me" over and over in his head until it reaches a point where he believes he doesn't deserve anything but pain and sacrifice, and I can easily see him forming some very self-destructive habits as a result, ignoring his own wellbeing entirely for the sake of his brothers'. ...Because it's not about him. Anyway I love Leo and his angst-ridden potential so fucking much, he's arguably the most complex turtle out of any iteration thus far and it's incredible. He needs a hug so bad ❤

Leo is definitely one of my favorite characters in ROTTMNT. Almost all of my favorite characters in any piece of media always have this underlying nature of "I use jokes, jump into dangerous situations, and pretend not to care to cope with traumatic events." It makes for great character analysis, and it's something that I have trouble with myself. Also, can we please acknowledge how great your art is? I love the shading and the lighting, especially.

I myself am a middle child. My brother was a straight A student and captain of the football team. My sister was the baby, and a dancer. Feeling as if you’ll never be as “big” as your older brother and your younger sibling has a skill you could never match leaves you feeling like you have to compete just for attention. For Leo- “Ralph the leader, Donny the genius, Mickey the artist” For me- “my brother captain, my sister the dancer” What am I? I can’t amount to my older brother and my younger sibling has surpassed me. They’ll always be stronger, smarter, better. What do I have? How can I get anyone’s attention from the shadow I stand in and the person who blocks my shadow? “Tell jokes and don’t care” I went from a A-B student to a D-F. I dropped out of all sports, and all extra activities. Became “lazy”. And I know that I could get A’s but I don’t have motivation. So when everyone looks at me like the F student, and I would wonder why? It relates so much to Leo’s quote “why does nobody believe in me” And the answer is you made yourself a clown because you viewed your siblings potential as an obstacle that you could never overcome. Instead of just being happy for them and learning from them to continue your individual growth.

FINALLYYYY!!!! TYSM FOR DOING ANALYSIS VIDEOS, IT HELPS ME REALLY UNDERSTAND THE TURTLES IN MY FIC!

this hit really hard now. And it is even harder when I don't see what I need to do. Because doing my way doesn't work. being scared and hopeless. It is a thing I can relate now.

THE ROOOOOCK 😭❤️

Why did the last line make me cry "He's their rock" *LOUD SOBBING INTENSIFIES*

Everyone in the comment section being like "He's just like me" while I'm there like: Leonardo and I have barely anything in common and he might even be annoying to me as a real person. But as a character I do think he's genuinely great. He doesn't seem like it at first but he has way more layers beyond just "the charmer" and "the chillax jokester". I'm really glad these sorts of videos exist so I can appreciate Leo even more than I already did, and even tho I don't relate to him as much as other fans, I can still understand and empathize with his feelings.

I relate to rise Leo the most too👍 Ben Schwartz did awsome

I DIDNT FKGN REALIZE WHY I RELATED TO LEO SO MUCH THIS VIDEO PLAYED MY EMOTIONS LIKE A FIDDLE

You are giving me such solid character analysis to study omg

these are some things i havenr realized about him that i do actually relate to. im not a middle child but i have a older sister im expected to be like but shes so much better at everything then i am. Im not very good at much and the things i am good at i refuse to show off because i know someones gonna come and be so much better then me but if im not the best then what am i? but either way great video! loved this analysis!

Frick yeah, a Leo character analysis, the only cure I could want for this rotten cold I have, thank you for your services my dear Viperizer ❤

I told my best friend that I’d developed an interest in Rottmnt today; I knew she wouldn’t be too happy as she is an old school tmnt fan and hates this series. When explaining why she didn’t like it she said the change in the team’s dynamic ruined one of the characters for her. I don’t know which turtle was ruined but I find myself loving these versions over the older ones. (I think I just find leader characters boring…)

Leo's my favorite character, theres so much to him!! I can relate to him on many ways and this is the first time I've related to a character this much.

Your videos have gotten better! Also, this analysis feels spot on. It's like all of my thoughts on his character have been summarized in one video!

I’m a middle child and I can almost relate to Leo.

The happiness I felt at seeing this on my fyp-

YAYYYY SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS LEO NOW :D

Youngest sibling here, but I relate a lot to Leo because my oldest sibling didnt really baby me as much. I had a lot to look up to and I had people breathing down my neck as a kid questioning why I did the things the way I did, especially if it wasnt the quickest or easiest or most morally correct way to do things. I deflected conflict, making my older sibling angry intentionally to get them off of my back emotionally because it was easier for me to deal with yelling or name calling than actually confronting flaws in my character. Ive never seen the same deflection tactic used in media until leo and I almost cried because of how similar it was when I was younger. I think the main mix up people have is selfish vs self centered, one is I want it to be me vs for better or for worse its all me Leo isn't selfish, he wouldn't choose better things for himself than his brothers He's self centered, desperate to prove himself, make his skills seen. To be useful and needed. To be respected and impressive. So desperate that he doesn't see that it's not really about him

I didn't even know about Rise until early this year 'cause I'm already graduated from school and even my youngest brother (I'm the second of 4 siblings) was finishing high school when this series aired, therefore zero possibilities of knowing about it, unless you have a child watching nickelodeon you will never know and adding the lack of a good promotion for the series... At first I wasn't very fond of the design, but ALL the changes they made from Raph being the responsible oldest brother and leader to Splinter being a potato and former martial arts actor, uff, loved it because it resembles so much to the dynamic between me and my siblings, especially Leo's and Donnie's being the disaster twins remind me so much of me and my barely little sister, the two middle children 😅 Leo being so goofy, funny, sassy and practically a fruit bowl was what I like the most and knowing that nickelodeon fucked it by rushing season 2 was so disappointed. The movie and the fact that this fandom is so awesome certainly gave me hopes of a possible return , I really want to see more of him and see him evolve into the amazing leader and hopefully greatest version of himself that I think we would ever see.

Imma calling it, best character analyser on the platform, in my opinion. Subscription not wasted.

BRO AS A MIDDLE CHILD THIS HIT ME HARRRRRRRRRRRDDDDD

Rise!Leo and Ronald Weasley would get along with those insecurities.

I loved your conclusion about Leo!! Keep going with the analysis videos :D

THIS IS AMAZING!! I love the analysis and never realized the rock scene had so much to it and I loved how you kept in when you went back or redid something on your art as some Timelapses I’ve seen skip over that

ngl he just like me fr

I have a theory that Raph spent more time with Donnie and Mikey because of Donnie's soft shell and because Mikey's the youngest and if you noticed besides Donnie Leo is behind Raph the least

YOUVE DONE MAH BOI LEEOOOOO THANK YOU

I don’t relate to Leo fully in this iteration but there are some traits I find related about him Like being stubborn, feeling like you’re useless/don’t do much (there’s more but I can’t think of it all of the top of my head) I also enjoy puns (kinda like how he likes one liners) I’m not the type of person who puts on a persona to act confident Sure I sometimes give myself words of affirmation sense that’s my love language but I try to stay humble and get my ego check Because the last thing I wanna do is seem like an egotistical jerk But anyway Leo is awesome in all versions and I relate to him the most in most iterations as well as Donnie

I can't wait for the Donnie video!

It frustrates me when people say, "This version sucks because Leo isn't leader!" I'm like, "Yeah, it's different, but can't you make your decision based on something more than interchangable character roles?" Leo the Not-Leader is more like... Leo BEFORE he started leading. And Leo the Not-Leader, ironically, is still somebody who does a lot of leading. In a way, he displays a natural aptitude for leading - it's just that responsibility is something you accept, not that you're born with (unless you're Heir to the Throne, then you're born with it). Leo once asked Splinter why his family don't trust him and his plans. Perhaps the answer is not merely that he doesn't let them in on his plans, but because they've become wary of the Face-Man. Leo wears that smug, charming face all the time, whether charming his way past enemies, or going out with family to pizza. His family know it all too well. How can they know which one is real any more? How can they trust him, if he won't trust them with his own feelings? Early in the movie, you can practically imagine Leo saying "It's okay if I foul up, I'm not REALLY the leader as long as Raph's here. He's nagging me right NOW. He should just take charge again. In fact, if he doesn't take charge, it's his fault!" Raph even tries to tell him that leadership is a big deal. But it doesn't matter, Raph will fix it. And then... Raph is gone. You can see Leo looking around for anybody else to blame but it's all on him. He HAS to lead. But at first he thinks he can lead them in, and then, Raph will lead them out. Everything will be as it was. Except Leo turns out so lousy at first he doesn't even get them in. He gets completely separated from Donnie and Mikey, and now Casey Jr. tells him that it's about EVERYBODY. And Leo realises that Casey, this kid he barely knows, THAT'S responsibility. Not just a family, not just the world, but the entire FUTURE on your back, and with nobody to share the load. Leo's already lost his family. And now that future is just... leaving him behind, ready to carry on alone if need be. And he gets it. When there's a load to carry, a hero is the first to pick it up, and the last to lay it down.

Don't worry I love long videos

I see your points and I think that Rise Leonardo is a good character with strong development but my main thing about his character that never made sense to me was his unwillingness to improve himself despite seeing himself as lesser than everyone else or being the middle child who wasn't special which would give him motivation to train more in concept but he mostly tries to prove himself in certain moments like getting high scores or out doing someone which makes him feel like a static character for a while. Rise Leo also wants people to believe in him but he also shows how he chooses to avoid stressful situations with jokes or avoiding the problem altogether without trying to improve which gives his family a reason to not trust him with serious situations due to his way of handling them. I would say the other iterations of Leo are better, namely 2003 and 2012 due to not just being the leader but a warrior that works the hardest out of everyone else due to his desire to improve himself, self discipline, and wanting to protect his family while also going through their own arcs that tests them as characters; it is also easier to empathize with the other versions because when we see them fail despite their hard work it hurts harder due to us knowing what they did to get this far while also seeing them conquer their weaknesses and even though Rise Leo also conquers his weaknesses, it often takes someone to get upset at him in order for him to change.

I can not say that "he is like me"or something like that I just feel like his brothers doesn’t know how he feels like you said(kinda like that) in the episode with the champion thing( 5:04 I forgot what the episode name was).And the thing with Mikey is cute but that Donnie and Mikey look more closer is the truth but I never thought that Mikey and I forgot what I wanted to say(sorry)this scene was really like 😶I mean in this: 8:58 .And that he is different of all the others Leo’s is the truth he is not the leader he is not the oldest child.and Ralph is really different than all others Ralph’s like no angry or mean he is more the opposite of the others Ralp I thinks the ROTTMNT(rising of the teenage mutant ninja turtle)I thinks..I think nobody talk about Ralph and Leo relationship in ROTTmnt because in all tmnt version they are the opposite/different than all the other Leo’s and Ralph’s..sorry if I change the Thema but I just want to say that…please don’t attack me if I said something wrong.(and sorry if my English is not correctly i still learn the language)

I wanna make a videos about rottmnt, I'm not native English speaker so my grammar and accent aren't perfect, and I don't have money to buy a good set, so my leo's kin side tell me that if I don't gonna do it perfect for the first time, then I just gonna waste my time

Is it normal crying a lot while atching This analisis or is just me?

Hi

4:08 ME DIO RISA ESTE JAJSJAJSB

i want to keep him in my pocket

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